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THE UFO EVIDENCE,
published by the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena, Copyright
1964

SECTION III

Air Force Observations

Before the issuance of Air Force Regulation 200-2 in 1953 (see extracts),
a large number of significant UFO sightings by active Air Force personnel
were made public. During the early 1950's, dozens of Intelligence Reports
describing amazing UFO performances were released to the present NICAP Director.
[1.] An article in LIFE, April 7, 1952, suggesting UFOs were interplanetary,
represented the opinion of "several very high-ranking officers in the Pentagon,"
according to the former Air Force UFO project chief. [2.] After an early phase
of official confusion and secrecy following the first publicized U.S. sightings
in 1947, the Air Force was openly treating UFOs as a serious and important
problem.

As indicated in the following chart, UFOs have been sighted regularly at
dozens of Air Force bases in the United States and in foreign locations. Since
1953, however, Air Force UFO reports have steadily diminished. The effect
of AFR 200-2 (and other Air Force policies; see Section IX) has been to dry
up this source of current information about UFOs. With Air Force fliers active
all over the globe, it is easy to imagine the amount of information which
has been lost to the public.

In spite of the repressive effects of AFR 200~2 in recent years, a considerable
number of good UFO sightings by Air Force witnesses has accumulated. These
reports are a matter of public record. Others from unofficial and private
sources have been obtained by NICAP.

Within the Air Force there is a strong difference of opinion about the
official policies toward UFOs. Many officers and airmen do not agree with
them, and favor more public disclosure of UFO information. A number have supplied
NICAP with information when this could be done without violating security.

After NICAP was formed in 1956, Air Force officers (active and retired)
began to visit the office. Some had personal experiences to relate, others
had general information about the UFO project. The visitors have included
several former Project Blue Book (the UFO project) personnel and intelligence
officers; a Master Navigator who had sighted several UFOs while on active
duty; and a fighter pilot still on active duty. All expressed general agreement
with NICAP's goals, and offered encouragement and support.

9. Exceptions. In response to local inquiries resulting from
any UFO reported in the vicinity of an Air Force base, information regarding
a sighting may be released to the press or the general public by the
commander of the Air Force base concerned only if it has been positively
identified as a familiar or known object

11. Contacts. Private individuals or organizations requesting
Air Force interviews, briefings, lectures, or private discussions on
UFO's will be referred to the Office of Information Services, Office
of the Secretary of the Air Force. Air Force personnel, other than those
of the Office of Information Services, will not contact private individuals
on UFO cases nor will they discuss their operations and functions with
unauthorized persons unless so directed, and then only on a "need-to-know"
basis

The reports from Air Force sources, many taken directly from Intelligence
Reports, constitute good evidence that unexplained aerial objects are seen
with regularity by observers who spend more time than the average person scanning
the sky. (This is also true of airline crews; see Section V).

(Capt. Alvah M. Reida, during his military flying career, was an Airplane
Commander on B-26's, B-24's and B-29's. At the time of the sighting, he was
based at Kharagapur, India, in the 468th Bomb Group, 792nd Squadron, XX Bomber
Command, All quotes from his report, on file at NICAP).

"I was on a mission from Ceylon, bombing Palembang, Sumatra. The date was
August 10, 1944, time shortly after midnight. There were 50 planes on the
strike going in on the target at about 2 or 3 minute intervals. My plane was
the last one in on the target and the assignment was for us to bomb, then
drop photo flash bombs, attached to parachutes, make a few runs over the target
area, photographing damage from the preceding planes. The weather was broken
clouds, with an overcast above us. Our altitude was 14,000 feet, indicated
air speed about 210 mph.

"While in the general target area we were exposed to sporadic flak fire,
but immediately after leaving this area it ceased. At about 20 or 30 minutes
later the right gunner and my co-pilot reported a strange object pacing us
about 500 yards off the starboard wing. At that distance it appeared as a
spherical object, probably 5 or 6 feet in diameter, of a very bright and intense
red or orange in color. It seemed to have a halo effect. Something like this:

"My gunner reported it coming in from about five o'clock position at our
level. It seemed to throb or vibrate constantly. Assuming it was some kind
of radio controlled object sent to pace us, I went into evasive action, changing
direction constantly as much as 90 degrees and altitude about 2000 feet. It
followed our every maneuver for about 8 minutes, always holding a position
of about 500 yards out and about 2 o'clock in relation to the plane. When
it left, it made an abrupt 90 degree turn, up and accelerating rapidly; it
disappeared in the overcast."

Capt. Reida added: "During the strike evaluation and interrogation following
this mission, I made a detailed report to Intelligence, thinking it was some
new type of radio controlled missile or weapon."

Cigar-Shaped UFO Near AF Transport

(Capt. Jack Puckett, at the time of his UFO sighting, was Flying Safety
Officer, Hdq., Tactical Air Command, 300th Base Unit, Langley Field, Va.
His duties included supervision of flying operations and training, investigation
of all aircraft accidents in his command. He has served as an instructor pilot,
four engine aircraft, and flew a tour of combat in the European Theater, World
War II).

"I was making a scheduled flight from Langley Field, Virginia [August 1,
19461 to MacDill Field, Tampa, Florida. At approximately 6 p.m. while flying
a C -47 at 4000 feel northeast of Tampa I observed what I thought to be a
shooting star to the southeast over the Atlantic Ocean. My copilot, Lt. Henry
F. Glass and my engineer both observed this object at the same time.

"This object continued toward us on a collision course at our exact altitude.
At about 1000 yards it veered to cross our path. We observed it to be a long,
cylindrical shape approximately twice the size of a B-29, with luminous portholes."

The UFO seemed to be rocket propelled, Capt. Puckett stated. The object
trailed a stream of "fire" about one-half its own length, and remained in
sight 2 1/2 to 3 minutes.

Pilot Has "Dogfight" With
Oval Object

About 9:45 p.m. November 18, 1948 Lt. Henry G. Combs was approaching Andrews
AFB, Maryland, near the Nation's Capital, in a T-6. Suddenly he noticed an
odd light over the base, so he closed in to cheek on it. Abruptly, the light
"began to take violent evasive action." Repeatedly, Combs tried to close in
on the maneuvering object. But each time it would turn so sharply that he
couldn't turn with it.

In his official report on the incident, Lt. Combs stated: "I chased the
light up and down and around for about 10 minutes, then as a last resort I
made a pass and turned on my landing lights. Just before the object made a
final tight turn and headed for the coast I saw that it was a dark gray oval-shaped
object, smaller than my T-6."

The UFO moved at variable speeds, vertically and horizontally. Lt. Combs
estimated it traveled as fast as 600 mph.

TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE CENTER
OFFICIAL OBSERVES DISC, SHARP TURN

On June 1, 1951, about 10:00 p.m., an official at Wright- Patterson AFB,
Ohio, sighted an apparently disc-shaped UFO. Because of his sensitive position,
he has requested that his name be kept confidential. The report is certified
by the NICAP Director and Assistant Director. (Note: All confidential reports
in this document, certified by NICAP officials, will be made available to
any authorized Congressional investigators.)

"While driving West near Dayton, Ohio, I suddenly became aware of a large
blue-white light moving parallel to me. It was parallel and to the left at
30 to 45 degrees elevation. I can best describe it as being similar to the
flame trail from a rocket power plant. It was a clearly defined outline similar
to a stubby cigar. It was much brighter at the leading end, and gradually
dimmer toward the trailing end. After l0 to 15 seconds it made approximately
a right angle turn, became circular and even-colored, and rapidly disappeared.
I detected no trace of yellow, orange, red or purple in the color. The speed
was faster than an airplane, slower than a meteor."

Disc Buzzes Fighter Plane

The following case was reported by Cleveland Press Aviation Editor Charles
Tracy, a former wing operations officer in the Air Force. (Originally reported
in Cleveland Press, picked up by United Press International, July 30, 1952).

During the Summer of 1951, Lt. George Kinman was flying over Augusta, Georgia,
on a clear, sunny day. At the time, he was a seven year flying veteran, since
a jet pilot at overseas bases.

"I was cruising at about 250 mph.," Lt. Kinman told Tracy. "All of a sudden
I noticed something ahead, closing in on me, head on. Before I could take
evasive action - before I even thought of it, in fact - this thing dipped
abruptly and passed underneath just missing my propeller. The thing was definitely
of disc shape. . . white. . . pretty thick. . . it looked like an oval. .
. it was about twice as big as my plane. It had no visible protrusions like
motors, guns, windows, smoke or fire."

Lt. Kinman swung his F-51 around, but the disc was out of sight. Within
about 15 seconds, he said, the disc came at him again, dipping at the last
minute. This performance was repeated several times for a period of 5 to 10
minutes. Finally, on its last pass, the UFO zoomed upward instead of down,
just missing his canopy.

One of the former Project Blue Book personnel who have visited NICAP is
Don Widener. During 1952, he was a Staff Sergeant, senior information specialist
in the Strategic Air Command, stationed with the 809th Air Base Group, MacDill
AFB, Florida. Mr. Widener was assisting a Captain who was doing investigative
work. When the Captain was called off base, Widener kept track of all sightings
in the area for Project Blue Book.

Extracts from a letter to NICAP signed by Mr. Widener:

"One of the key sightings which I was involved in was a radar sighting
in the summer of 1952. Captain________was off base and the operations officer
notified me of the UFO, which radar had picked up at 40,000 feet proceeding
at a speed of 400 knots. A check showed only two aircraft in the area; one
a commercial airliner 300 miles out and the other a B-29 on the downwind leg
to land.

The B-29 was piloted by a Colonel who reported he had five hours fuel and
would investigate. The craft searched until midnight and finally reported
a visual sighting at 20,000 feet. The object was at 40,000 feet flying at
about 220 knots. The sighting was witnessed by the co-pilot and scanner. The
Colonel and other witnesses described the object as a glowing white light
shaped like a football. The B-29 turned to give chase, but the object reversed
its field and disappeared at high speed. . . The weather that night was excellent.
Bright moonlight, no inversion. Perfect for flying."

Jet Instructor Observes Circling
UFO

A former Air Force jet pilot instructor, in a signed report to NICAP, detailed
a sighting of a cigar-shaped UFO which left a contrail of constant length.
1st Lt. Edward B. Wilford III, a West Point graduate, was on a maintenance
test flight in a T-33 from Laredo AFB, Texas, in about April 1953.

"While flying, I noticed a contrail at least 100 miles southeast coming
in my direction. I had previously seen B-36's in our area, but within 5 minutes
the contrail approached so rapidly that I thought it must be a B-47." He had
just passed through 20,000 feet in a climbing spiral over the field.

Lt. Wilford gave the following log of the sighting:

T. First sighting, 100+ miles ESE of Laredo. [Approached from over Gulf
in direction of Corpus Christi].

T+5. Passed north of air base (my altitude, approx. 25,000 ft.)

T+ l0. Almost out of sight WNW of Laredo (my altitude 30,000 ft.), appeared
to make 90 degree left turn.

T+17. Passed south of Laredo. I passed object through sun, but could not
see any wing or tail structures. (My altitude, approx. 35,000 ft.)

T+20. Passed north of Laredo. I saw waves in contrail for first time. (My
altitude, 37,000 ft. +)

Part of the time the UFO was sharply outlined, appearing as a "solid brown
cigar-shaped object with contrail beginning one ship length behind," Lt. Wilford
stated. "The contrail was a constant 2-1/2 or 3 ship lengths, disappearing
as rapidly as it was forming, thus keeping constant length."

Based on the fact that the visibility at altitude exceeded 100 miles, Lt.
Wilford estimated the UFO's speed at 1200 m.p.h. After circling the base,
it took the UFO 5 minutes to speed out of sight to the NW. The object was
as much as 45-50 degrees above his plane, and when he reached 40,000 feet
it still seemed to be at least 20,000 feet above him.

Pilot Reports Two "Intelligently
Controlled" Objects

In a letter to NICAP, Lt. Col. Richard T. Headrick, USAFR, Senior Pilot,
described briefly a sighting of two UFOs in Dayton, Ohio, during 1954. A full
report was made at the time to Project Blue Book. Col. Headrick outlined his
views in this manner:

1. "Saucers exist. (I saw two).
2. They were intelligently controlled or operated. (Evasive tactics, formation
flight, hovering flight.)
3. They are not propelled on any thermodynamic principle. (No contrails while
jet intercept aircraft left heavy ones).
4. They are mechanisms rather than hallucinations, optical illusions, natural
phenomena. Col. Headrick added his evaluation of UFOs in general:
5. They are not U.S. secret weapons, for if they were, many contracts I am
now working on would be dropped. [56] Also they would not fly outside military
test reservations.
6. They are not Russian for similar reasons. Russians have complained about
their flying over their borders. They would not risk malfunction over our
territory.
7. I presume they are extraterrestrial.
8. Provided they are, interstellar navigation would likely present little
more complication than navigation within our solar system. Therefore, discussion
on whether or not planets in the solar system are capable of supporting life
are not material.
9. Judging from all evidence I have read, personal contact has not yet been
established either on the ground or by radio transmission."

3. Object tipped to horizontal, then as it moved into distance tilted upwards
again.

SAC Officers Watch UFO With
Satellite Objects

At SAC headquarters in 1958, a group of officers, airmen and missile engineers
observed an elongated UFO with satellite objects for about 20 minutes. The
case was reported to NICAP by Major Paul A. Duich, USAF (Ret.), one of the
witnesses, who was then on active duty. Until recently, Major Duich was an
Air Force Master Navigator, accumulating 4000 flying hours and 300 combat
hours. During World War II he was one of those who saw "foo-fighters," while
crew member of a B-29 making bomb runs on Japan.

The time was approximately 1840. The date: 8 September 1958. I had just
ordered dinner at the Officers Club, Strategic Air Command Headquarters, Offutt
Air Force Base, Omaha,

Nebraska. I excused myself from my friend and co-worker, Major __________
, and went out the side door to cross the open space between the club and
the Visiting Officers Quarters next door. I wanted to buy a newspaper in the
lobby of the VOQ to read after dinner.

As I crossed the open area, something caught my eye. Glancing up and to
the west, I noticed what appeared to be a short vapor trail in an otherwise
clear, blue sky. There were no clouds. The sun had just set. I continued walking
but somehow that vapor trail didn't register properly. I have seen thousands
of vapor trails but this one was peculiar. I did a double take at that point
for suddenly the short 'vapor trail' became a brilliant Source of light, much
the same as a magnesium flare. I stopped dead in my tracks and watched.

The light was intense, but the "vapor trail" hung motionless. Even a short
trail shows generation and dissipation as the aircraft moves across the sky.
I watched for several minutes-- maybe 2 or 3--before I called to another officer:
"Hey, what do you make of that?", pointing to the spot in the sky. He replied,
"Looks like a short vapor trail." I pointed out that it wasn't moving or growing
or diminishing in size. He stopped to gape and several others joined us.

By then, I decided this called for a better look. What we all agreed, rather
quickly, was that the vapor was reflecting sunlight, the effect being similar
to a sun-dog, even though the sun had already slipped below the horizon.

As the small crowd gathered, I hurried into the VOQ office and called the
Offutt tower. I asked the tower operator to look west, about 30 degrees from
the horizontal and tell me what he saw.

"Looks like a short vapor trail. Very odd."

"Vapor trail my foot! Look at it now."

I could see it through the window as I talked to the tower operator. The
glow was now diminishing and changing to a dull red-orange and at the same
time the fuzzy appearance gradually took on a solid look, in the distinct
shape of a pencil or slender cigar. The upper end was blunter than the lower
end.

By then all those in the office were curious and we all stepped outside
to join the 10 or 20 others who had gathered to gape at the thing. All of
a sudden we all started checking each others faces for some silly reason--for
assurance of reality, perhaps, for as we watched there appeared at the lower
end of the object a swarm of black specks cavorting every which way, much
like a swarm of gnats. This procedure continued for a minute or so before
they (the black specks) disappeared.

Then the object, which had hung motionless on the same spot, slowly changed
attitude from an upright position to a 45 degree angle with the horizontal
and started moving slowly toward the west. At the same time there was no drastic
change in the coloring, but a perceptible color change did take place. It
remained a dull orange-red color and continued its westerly movement.

We watched in awe for several minutes--perhaps 5-- and then the object
changed attitude, again very gradually, until its longitudinal axis appeared
parallel to the horizon. The westward movement continued, slightly to the
southwest. The apparent size of the object diminished gradually and the color
faded. About 5 minutes before we lost it completely (as it faded into the
haze just above the horizon) the object changed attitude again, back toward
the 45 degree position, but not quite.

As it continued on its westerly path, it maintained this last attitude
until completely swallowed up by the haze. It never did drop below the horizon--just
faded away. The fading, of course, was due to the many miles of hazy atmosphere
between us and the object. The sky was cloudless, but the western horizon
did have a slight haze, readily apparent against the bright background.

About 10 minutes after I sighted the object, a full colonel set up a tripod
and 35 mm camera with color film and took several photographs of the object.
He later denied getting any successful exposures after I asked him on several
occasions.

Immediately after the object faded away, we asked one another what it was
we saw. The popular answer was, "I don't know, but I saw something."

The crowd was composed of airmen, officers and civilians (at least 25 officers
and airmen were present). Several of the officers (and possibly a few civilians)
were from the Air Force
Ballistic Missile Division in Los Angeles. Several more, like myself, were
Operations personnel engaged in a SAC planning session at the time. All except
a few of the airmen were seasoned, veteran flyers or highly trained missile
engineers. We concluded that what was seen by all was no conventional vehicle,
nor was it an atmospheric phenomenon.

I collected a few names of individuals present, as I intended to report
the UFO to the proper authorities. I called the filter center and reported
the facts over the telephone in the presence of a fellow officer and co-worker.
I was told that I would be contacted for interview within 48 hours by ATIC
[Air Technical Intelligence Center representatives. I am still waiting--5-l/2
years later.